How and for what purpose is the super method called in Python?

In Python, calling super() is used to access methods of the base (parent) class from a subclass. It is especially useful when overriding methods, to extend or modify the behavior of the parent method while preserving its part.

For example, if you have a parent class with an __init__ method, and a subclass that wants to add additional initialization steps, you can call super().__init__() to invoke the parent's constructor and then add your logic:

class Animal:
    def __init__(self, name):
        self.name = name

class Dog(Animal):
    def __init__(self, name, breed):
        super().__init__(name)  # call parent constructor
        self.breed = breed

Thus, super() helps organize inheritance and code reuse properly.